With “The Last of Us” season 2 nearly here, it’s natural to wonder where the HBO series could go once it reaches the end of the story from the original video games. While season 1 adapted the entirety of the first game from Naughty Dog, “The Last of Us Part II” is being split up into multiple seasons, starting with season 2. There’ve been no official suggestions that the live-action “Last of Us” series may continue beyond the events of the second game, but rumors are bound to fly. That being the case, series co-creator Craig Mazin addressed the possibility of sequels or spin-offs in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“I am not going to go past the game,” Mazin clarified. “I’ll just say that flat out.” Having said that, he did leave open the possibility for other creators to take a turn in the world of the show if HBO decides to go that route. “There might be a ‘Dunk and Egg'[-style] ‘The Last of Us’ show that happens that somebody does,” Mazin noted, referencing the “Game of Thrones” spin-off of the same name. “But for me, the only question is: Is it going to be one more season or will it require two more? If this can happen all in one more season, great. If we feel like it makes sense to break it into two, then we will do that.”

That answer certainly makes it sound like certain aspects of the adaptation are still up in the air. Those who’ve played the original games will know that the “Last of Us” TV series has already diverged from the source material in some key ways. In fact, those same changes could very well give rise to a different ending, even if the timeline doesn’t move any further into the future.

Is making a Last of Us spin-off actually a good idea?

“The Last of Us” has made some changes here and there to character arcs and the order of events, but season 1 stays pretty loyal to the games, which makes sense given how involved franchise creator Neil Druckman has been from the start. That seems unlikely to change in season 2. Both games are tight, character-driven stories with very focused themes and narrative intentions. While there is a larger world built out in the games, the details players get are mainly there to support the ideas of the main story, as opposed to hinting at other possible adventures.

All of that makes the proposition of a “Last of Us” spin-off somewhat dicey, especially if core members of the show’s creative team, like Mazin, intend to leave the franchise regardless. Tommy (Gabriel Luna) has been put forward by some fans as the possible subject of a spin-off, but that would require some further changes. There’s also the idea of a series following a young Joel (Pedro Pascal), which Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter, “As a fan of The Last of Us, I’d totally watch that. That would be fascinating to see.”

Of course, that latter idea comes with its own problems. After all, long-term scheduling might be tricky for Pascal given his many other commitments, and he isn’t getting any younger. Going backward in the timeline also seems like a risky move, so much so HBO would likely be better off just sticking to the material from the games.

HBO’s The Last of Us could change the end of Part II

While Mazin says that he’s uninterested in moving beyond the end of “The Last of Us Part II,” that doesn’t mean that the HBO show couldn’t still change some things down the line. Without getting into spoilers, “Part II” is arguably even more dour and grim than the first game. There’s nothing stopping Druckman and Mazin from sticking to that script line-by-line, but if the show runs for four seasons, as Mazin suggested to THR might be possible, there’s a lot of room to play with new ideas or add extra material into the cracks.